Tempering of plate glass or other



R. MEER Sept. 7, 193 7.

TEMPERING OF PLATE GLASS OR OTHER SHEETS MADE OF ANY MATERIALS Original Filed Oct. 18, 1934 fifmcch vENT 4y: I H177 Reissued Sept. 7, 1937' TEMPERING OF PLATE GLASS OR OTHER SHEETS MADE OF ANY MATERIALS Raymond Meer, Paris, France, assignor to The American Seoul-it Company, a corporation of Delaware Original No. 1,999,337, dated April 30, 1935, Serial No. 748,938, October 18, 1934. Application for reissue April 2'7, 1937, Serial No. 139,328. In France May 24, 1934 7 Claims. (Cl. 49-45) This invention relates to the tempering of sheets of any materials and particularly of plate glass or other glass sheets by means of a gas or of a mixture of gas and of vapours.

above movements are kinematically associated and obtained. from a single control.

The accompanying drawing illustrates, by way of example only, a form of construction of a It has already been proposed to direct on both plant according to the invention. 5 f c of a la s plate raised to s ftening t m- Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic general elevation, with perature, opposed air jets having a fixed dirscpartial sections of the plant. tion no al to t e Plane of the glass P ate and Fig. 2 is a corresponding sectional side view. to produce relative movements between the lat- In this example, on one and the same frame 10 ter and the said air jets. a d p r rly moveare provided two rows of tubes I arranged par- 10 ments of rectilinear or circular translation. It allel to each other and journalled, at one end, has also been proposed to cause air jets, 0r jets in the wall of a casing 2 and, at the other end, of air and water vapour to impingeor strike in a plate 3. The interior of the tubes I is in upon both faces of a glass plate to be tempered. communication with the casing 2, the opposite the direction or incidence of the said jets on the end being closed. The tubes are shown, from 15 glass plate being constantly variable. one row to the other, as being arranged in pairs The invention has for its object the new comin horizontal planes, but' they might bevertibination, in one unit, in a plant for the tempercally displaced so that one tube of a row is 10- mg of glass plates or the like by means of jets of cated at a level comprised between two tubes gaseous fluid on both their faces, of means for of the other row. 20 varying the incidence of the jets, with means The casings 2 are supplied with air or other for producing relative movements between the fluid through flexible pipes l connected to a totality of these jets and the glass plate to be fan, a compressor or other suitable source of tempered. supply. In the wall of the tubes I are provided In thus defining the invention in its principle, orifices 5 angularly distributed on the periphery 25 by the word jets is meant all members having of said tubes and longitudinally spaced apart a cavity in communication either with a source in such a manner that the sheet 6 to be cooled of gas under pressure, or with a source of vac- (a glass plate to be tempered for instance) is uum and an orifice of which is directed tonot acted upon on both its faces at two exactly wards one of the faces of the glass plate to be opposite points. Fixed or movable deflectors 30 tempered, in-such a manner that a stream of gascan be combined with the tubes for varying, in eous fluid is maintained by blowi y 11 combination with a continuous or alternating tion. Moreover, blown and "sucked jets can movement of rotation of the said tubes on thembe juxtaposed. selves, the incidence of the fluid jets relatively According to the invention, such jets receive, to the faces of the glass plate upon which they 35 relatively to the glass plate, a movement which impinge. In the example illustrated, the tubes I is the resultant of the two following movements: rotate in contact with outer channel members 1 A first movement which causes the incidence which obturate the orifices 5 when they are set of the jet to vary relatively to the face of the in such a direction that they can no longer be 40 glass plate. in contact with the glass plate. 40

A second movement imparted to the totality The tubes l rotate on themselves, in bearings of the jets, or to the glass p ga n th provided in the casings 2 and on the plates 3 to the latter and to the said jets, for producing of the frame. For that purpose, on the closed relative movements such that, if the direction end of each of the said tubes is mounted a pinion f the jets was fixed, their point or their zone 8 meshing with the pinion 8 of the ad acent tube. 45 of intersection with the glass plate would move The two lower pimons mesh with a common pin-, on the surface of the latter. ion 9 journalled in a suitable bearing of the owing to these two combined movements, the frame and angularly' rigid with a bevel DlIllOIl faces of the sheet to be tempered is completely In constantly gearing with another bevel pin on 60 swept by a reduced number of jets and, consell rigidly secured on the cranlr pm of a crank quently, with a small consumption of cooling shaft II. The entire frame 18 supported by fluid. Other advantageous results, indicated bearings l3, at the front, and by bearings l4, later on, are also obtained. at the rear, on the crank pins of two similar The invention, in one of its embodiments, is crank shafts l2 and I! mounted in bearings I5.

further characterized by the fact that the two The arrangement is such that the points 55 a-bc-d are the apices of a parallelogram; by actuating for instance the crank shaft I! by means of a pulley I9 connected, by a belt, to a motor or to any transmission, the frame is subjected to horizontal oscillations combined with vertical oscillations of the same amplitude determined by the radius of the crank shafts. On

the other hand, during its continuous gyratory 90 pliedtp tempering of plate glass, a tempering'fis obiaihed with a very small. consumption of; fluid per weight unit of glass treated, which tempering gives products remarkable as security when they are used as glass 55 plates on motor vehicles. Shocks divide them into fragments, the size of which varies from that of a pea to that of a grain of wheat. This appears to result from the fact that the glass plate isswept throughout the area of its faces by jets the points or zone of impact of which are never exactly opposite from one face to the other and that one and the same jet, according, to its incidence, differently cools the zone upon which it impinges.

An arrangement in which the jets movable'or fixed relatively to the frame carrying them, are never exactly opposite from one face to the other of the glass plate, is included in the scope of the invention.

' the incidence of the jets, of second means for.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment described and illustrated. It is defined in its principle bythe features set forth in the preamble to the present specification and includes in its scope all the means and combinations of means suitable for carrying these features into practice.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

r 1. a plant for the tempering of materials in sheet form and particularly of plate glass by projection of jets of gaseous fluid on both their faces, the combination of first means for varying the incidence of the jets and of second means for producing relative movements between the totality of these jets and the glass plate to be tempered.

2. In a plant for the tempering of materials in sheet form and particularly of plate glass by projection of jets of gaseous fluid on both their faces, the combination of first means for varying the incidence of the jets, of second means for producing relative movements between the totality of these jets and the glass plate to be tempered, of a source of power for actuating the above mentioned means, and of third means for kinematicallyconnecting said first means and said second means.

3. In a plant for the tempering of materials in sheet form and particularly of plate glass by projection of jets of gaseous fluid on both their faces, the combination of first means for varying producing relative movements between the totality of these jets and the glass plate to be tempered, of a source of power for actuating the above mentioned means, and of third means for kinematically connecting said first means and said second means, the jets never being exactly opposite each other from one face to the other of the glass plate.

4. In a plant for the tempering of materials in sheet form and particularly of plate glass by projection of jets of gaseous fluid on both their faces, the combination of a casing, of a plate, of two series of tubes parallel to each other and journalled, on the one hand, in one of the walls of the casing and, on the other hand, in the said plate, the said tubes being in communication with the casing, at one end, and being closed at the other end, of means for supplying the casing with compressed air, orifices provided in the walls of the tubes, angularly distributed on their periphery and longitudinally spaced apart in such a manner that a sheet to be tempered, arranged between both series of tubes, is never acted upon. on both its faces by the jets at two exactly opposite pivots, means for causing the tubes to rotate and, accessorily, deflectors for modifying the incidence of the said jets.

5. In a plant for the tempering of materials in sheet form and particularly of plate glass by projection of jets of gaseous fluid on both their faces, the combination of a casing, of a-plate, of at least one crank shaft on which are pivoted the casing and the plate which are rigidly connected, of means for actuating the crank shafts and thereby imparting a corresponding movement to the plate and to the casing, of two series of parin the said plate, the said tubes being in communication with the casing, at one end, and

being closed at the other end, of means for supplying the casing with compressed air, orifices provided in the walls of the tubes, angularly distributed on their periphery and longitudinally spaced apart in such a manner that a sheet to be tempered. arranged between both series of tubes, is never acted upon on both its faces by the jets at two exactly opposite points, toothed wheels rigid with the tubes and successively put into gear, an end toothed wheel driving the said toothed wheels, a first bevel pinion driving the said toothed wheel, and a second bevel pinion gearing with the first pinion which it drives owing to-the movement of the crank shaft, the second pinion being mounted on the crank pin of the crank shaft.

6..The method of tempering glass sheets or articles which consists in heating the sheet or article to approximately its softening point and rapidly cooling the surface of said sheet or article by applying to its surface a blast or stream of cooling fluid, and varying the angle of incidence of said blast on said surface.

'7. Apparatus for tempering glass sheets or other articles comprising means for heating said sheet or article to approximately its softening point, means located adjacent the surface of the article provided with names adapted to project a cooling fluid upon the surface of the sheet or article, means for admitting cooling fluid to the nozzles, and means for moving the nozzles at varying angles'oi' incidence in respect to said surface.

. RAYMOND MEER. 

